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The new Restrictiveness Indicator for Professional Services: an assessment

15-09-2017

This document was prepared by Policy Department A: Economic and Scientific Policy, at the request of the Committee for the Internal Market and Consumer Affairs. After setting out the background of recent EU initiatives in the realm of services, in particular professional services, it explains in considerable detail the new Restrictiveness Indicator for Professional Services developed by the European Commission, followed by a careful assessment based on seven queries. It shows that, technically, this indicator is an improvement over similar work done by the OECD but that the empirical results are not radically different from those of the OECD in four such professions. The study cautions that the use of the new indicator has to be combined with assessments of proportionality, and that more attention should be paid to barriers to free movement.

This document was prepared by Policy Department A: Economic and Scientific Policy, at the request of the Committee for the Internal Market and Consumer Affairs. After setting out the background of recent EU initiatives in the realm of services, in particular professional services, it explains in considerable detail the new Restrictiveness Indicator for Professional Services developed by the European Commission, followed by a careful assessment based on seven queries. It shows that, technically, this indicator is an improvement over similar work done by the OECD but that the empirical results are not radically different from those of the OECD in four such professions. The study cautions that the use of the new indicator has to be combined with assessments of proportionality, and that more attention should be paid to barriers to free movement.